The Cartographers’ Guild is a forum created by and for map makers and aficionados, a place where every aspect of cartography can be admired, examined, learned, and discussed. Our membership consists of professional designers and artists, hobbyists, and amateurs—all are welcome to join and participate in the quest for cartographic skill and knowledge.

Although we specialize in maps of fictional realms, as commonly used in both novels and games (both tabletop and role-playing), many Guild members are also proficient in historical and contemporary maps. Likewise, we specialize in computer-assisted cartography (such as with GIMP, Adobe apps, Campaign Cartographer, Dundjinni, etc.), although many members here also have interest in maps drafted by hand.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ. You will have to register before you can post or view full size images in the forums.

Lite Challenge Rules - Please Read.

It may be the case that many people do not enter the usual monthly challenge because they feel that they have little chance of winning. The Lite Mapping Challenge is here to address that. Generally we will reprise for contests our most popular usual mapping challenges, but this is subject to change as we see how the contest develops:

Rules Summary

If you have won our usual Monthly contest, won 3 Lite Mapping Challenges or if you have had a map chosen as our Cartographers' Choice map, then you cannot enter this competition.

The challenge runs from the 15th of each month to the 15th of the next.

If the contest is a 'Reprise' you cannot post the same map as you did in the original contest.

Why Take Part in the Lite Challenge?

Entering a mapping contest is a great way to improve your mapping.

Working to a deadline helps you to concentrate on finishing your map.

Advanced mappers (i.e. previous contest winners) are not allowed to take part - improving your chances to win.

Reprise contests are a great way to have a second bite of the cherry if you did not win the first time.

We hope that the Lite challenge will encourage those who would not enter the usual monthly competition to change their minds and throw their hats into the ring and take part in a friendly tourney.

RULES

The Cartographers Guild Lite Mapping Challenge is a monthly contest that will allow you the opportunity to exercise your mapping skills in order to win prestige amongst your fellow cartographers, the standard prize consists of a special rank that will appear under your name.

On or about the middle of each month a mapping topic or concept will be announced and entries must be received on or about 5 days before the middle of the month. Judging will take place during those last 5 days, and a winner will be announced within that time frame.

The following procedures must be followed in order to join the mapping challenge.

Restriction on Entrants: The Lite Challenge is open to non-award winners only. That means if you have won our usual monthly contest or have had a map featured on this site as a Cartographers' Choice map, then you cannot enter this competition. You may also not enter the competition if you have won the Lite Challenge contest 3 times. Winners of other other awards (e.g. tutorials, River Police etc are free to enter).

Restriction on Entries: Your map must be original. This means that if the contest is a 'reprise' contest and you took part in the original contest, you cannot repost your challenge entry from the original contest. One Entry per contestant. Your entry must be created no earlier than the date that the challenge is posted. You may not used previously drawn maps as your entry. This is to give all entrants the same amount of time in which to create their entries.

Entry deadline - Entries for each Challenge must be posted prior to the last five days of that particular Challenges month. The Lite challenge runs from the 15th of the month to the 10th of the next month with five days for voting.

Entry Posting Thread Subject - You must create a thread with the subject title formatted as follows (replacing May/June 2011 with the current month and year):

May/June 2011 Lite Challenge Entry: Entry title or description

Entry Posting Thread Contents - Your thread must have an attached image in the first post upon creation. You may post your thread early with a Work in Progress (WIP) picture, and work in progress pictures and updates are strongly encouraged but not required. Each map image you post must be preceded with the words: ### LATEST WIP ###. This means it will be be picked up by the thumbnail scraper.

Judging - Judging will be handled by public vote through the forums voting system during the last 5 days of the month.

Entry Creation - Entries must be submitted as an image attachment, but the image could be from any software, such as Campaign Cartographer, Dundjinni, Fractal Mapper, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, etc. to include scans of hand drawn paper maps if applicable. No matter what mapping method you use, you're still a cartographer in our eyes.

Legal Rules - You must follow copyright rules, and may not use any map resources that are copyrighted to the point of preventing you from posting them to the public. All submitted entries must be your own work. All posted content is the sole property of the poster and may not be reused without permission. By submitting an entry to the Mapping Challenge you automatically grant permission to the Cartographers Guild and other Fantaseum Alliance sites to have your entry featured on the site as a contest winner or used in inter- and cross-site promotions or contests.

Additional Rules - More rules may be added and the process may be streamlined as the concept evolves. These rules are subject to change at any time.

This challenge will not work without participation. Tell your friends, post to other forums, spread the word!

Upon completion of a monthly lite challenge, all entry threads will be locked, and the announcement will be unstickied and locked. This will prevent old entry's from cluttering up the forums.

1 entry per person per challenge. You could do a different map for the normal challenge though...if it meets the criteria for that. You usually have 30 days so if you get a new idea halfway through, and decide that the new idea is better, then keep it in the current thread you have going.

If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)

Hi Hussar, there are two challenges, the normal one, just called 'the current mapping challenge' (which runs from the start to the end of each month) and the lite challenge, which runs from mid month to mid month. If you look at the challenge subforum, you'll see them listed separately. People who have won a 'normal challenge' are not allowed to participate in lite challenges, so that newer mappers won't be daunted from entering the lite challenge.

Think of the Lite Challenge as being a beginner to intermediate level type thing and the Main Challenge as being for normal to god level type thing.

If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)

------Assuming I stick with fantasy cartography, I'd like to become a World Builder, laying out not only a realistic topography, but also the geopolitical boundaries and at least rough descriptions of the countries and societies.

I think RobA posted a thread somewhere about how to make your own sig-links like many of us have. It's a few years old so it might require some digging.

If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)